Consumer group accuses Shein of manipulating shoppers with ‘dark patterns’ [Video]

A consumer organization filed a complaint with the European Commission on Thursday against online fast-fashion retailer Shein over its use of “dark patterns,” which are tactics designed to make people buy more on its app and website.

Pop-ups urging customers not to leave the app or risk losing promotions, countdown timers that create time pressure to complete a purchase and the infinite scroll on its app are among the methods Shein uses that could be considered “aggressive commercial practices,” wrote BEUC, a pan-European consumer group, in a report.

The BEUC also detailed Shein’s use of frequent notifications, with one phone receiving 12 notifications from the app in a single day.

“For fast fashion you need to have volume, you need to have mass consumption, and these dark patterns are designed to stimulate mass consumption,” said Agustin Reyna, director general of BEUC, in an interview.

“For us, to be satisfactory they …